As far as backwards comaptibility goes, the SSTab has been around for a lot longer - originally produced by Sheridan Software (hence the SS), it came as part of VB3. The current tabstrip on came in version 4 (or was it 5 - whenever the common controls was first included).

And you get a few more fatures in the MS version (pics next to the text, hot tracking etc.)

I tend to use the MS one unless its quick and dirty, in which case I'll use the SSTab.

THe other problem with the SS tab is that the porgrammatic interface sucks beyond belief - it's so un-intuitive.

- gaffa